ST. LOUIS — Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon was runnerup to Tampa Bay winger Nikita Kucherov in a mid-season vote for Hart Trophy as NHL MVP. The poll was conducted by The Professional Hockey Writers Association, which officially votes on many of the awards at the end of each season.
MacKinnon received 49 first place votes out and appeared on 136 of 152 ballots. He was second by a wide margin over John Tavares, who finished third. u200b
MacKinnon is second in NHL scoring with 60 points (24 goals) in 48 games. Kucherov has 63 points (27 goals) in 49 games.